Solar Flare: Science Fiction News

Thu, 04 Sep 2008 20:00:56 +0000

Ultimate X-Men #97
Writer: Aron E. Coilete
Artist: Mark Brooks
Publisher: Marvel Comics

Well it’s not Brooks fault. The art isn’t exceptional but it’s certainly serviceable. The plot and scripting though is just plain terrible. It’s barely coherent with no flow at all. Any sort of recognisable characterization is thrown out the window. As is logic, since there’s no way the team could come back from this in the space of a few pages.

Horrible,…

Wed, 03 Sep 2008 08:00:38 +0000

Several weeks ago I saw one of my favorite bands play live, the Raconteurs. At the show I bought a limited edition tour poster created by the artist Rob Jones.

His work is quite striking, and I especially like the steampunk look he’s applied to the Raconteurs. Check out the posters here and also here, and you can begin to imagine a story for these brash young lads in the…

Tue, 02 Sep 2008 23:00:33 +0000

News for science fiction fans who like video games of all sorts.

• How to build a better being on the National Geographic Channel will be showcasing Spore
• How You Can “Save” PC Gaming
• New Star Wars Videogame Unleashes the Force in You
• Games Demystified: Portal, on Gamasutra, goes into the science behind the game.
• SFSignal begins a Game Bits column

Upcoming games? Videogames meta-discussion? News about the intersection of videogames and science fiction? If you…

Mon, 01 Sep 2008 20:00:57 +0000

News about science fiction on the Internet.

• The Con Anti-Harassment Project is a grass-roots campaign to encourage conventions to create anti-harassment policies
• Zombie CSU website launched in conjunction with the book launch. Zombie CSU includes over 250 interviews with real-world experts ranging from Law Enforcment and the Military to Psychology and Medicine to present the first ever look at how our real world would react, research and respond to a zombie uprising.
• Lonelygirl15…

Mon, 01 Sep 2008 14:15:34 +0000

I’m pleased to announce the winners of our Masters of Science Fiction DVD competition. Thank you for all the entries. The following lucky people will be receiving the DVD set in the mail:

• Chris W., FL
• Kat S., NH
• John B., UT
• Carl J., PA
• William J. R., MN
• Mook H. K.,NJ
• Patrick T., CT
• Maria P., IL
• Catrina C., TX
• Keith H., WA

I’m very pleased with the success of this giveaway so if I receive further opportunities to offer…

Fri, 29 Aug 2008 20:00:43 +0000

Baen Books are releasing the following books during September 2008:

• Duainfey by Sharon Lee & Steve Miller
• Belisarius I: Thunder at Dawn by Eric Flint, David Drake
• Van Rijn Method & Poul Anderson
• Yellow Eyes by John Ringo & Tom Kratman
• The Long Twilight by Keith Laumer
• Thraxas Under Siege by Martin Scott

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Fri, 29 Aug 2008 13:30:41 +0000

I’m a fan of Star Wars. I’ve been a fan of Star Wars since I watched the original movie in theaters at roughly the age of four. So, it’s not surprising that I share my love of Star Wars with my children. When the new movie came out, we decided to see it.

After reading a number of poor reviews of Star Wars: Clone Wars, I went into the movie theaters with low,…

Thu, 28 Aug 2008 20:00:09 +0000

Sheriff Carter is in a state over the upcoming wedding between Drs. Stark and Blake. If that isn’t bad enough for him his sister has arrived for a visit. Of course the romantic tension between Allison and Carter has been a recurring theme of Eureka since episode one so it’s easy to sympathize with him as he has to give her away to Stark.

Ever seen Groundhog day?

That’s what we get…

Thu, 28 Aug 2008 16:00:36 +0000

Didi and Phil Gilson contacted me to let me know about a new science fiction feature film Gaea: Beyond the Son. The Gilsons have already published a novel of the same story (written as P. D. Gilson). The movie is being produced by Greentrees films who hope to begin production in 2009.

Gaea: Beyond The Son is about a father who is separated from his son through war, over 30 yeasr…

Thu, 28 Aug 2008 08:00:08 +0000

I’ve written some less than complimentary things about modern Star Wars recently and I’m hardly the only one (though to be fair there are a number of defenders too). Over at SF Signal JP Frantz has announced that Star Wars Must Die! Don’t get too upset, he doesn’t mean it literally. What he’s looking for is a fresh new direction for Star Wars.

By coincidence this is a topic I’ve been…

Wed, 27 Aug 2008 20:00:09 +0000

So by now of course you know that this is the last season of Stargate Atlantis. Hopefully they plan to go out with a bang. The Ghost in the Machine starts off in very familiar territory with our in the puddle jumper and doing what they do best (squabbling).

Incidentally is the puddle jumper the least impressive looking spaceship is scifi history?

From there things go bad with some weird systems failures.…

Wed, 27 Aug 2008 16:00:21 +0000

If you’re a fan of post-apocalyptic fiction you may want to keep an eye out for Paul Kane’s new book The Afterblight Chronicles: Arrowhead which will be published in September in the UK and then in November here in the US.

Kane is playing on the legend of Robin Hood in this book which is set in an England that has reverted to the Middle Ages after a virus killed 90%…

Wed, 27 Aug 2008 08:00:22 +0000

The other day I posted the claim that There Is No Such Thing As Science Fiction Fandom. It was as I acknowledged in the article, an over-reaching claim. But I basically stand by the point I was making that fandom has splintered into many specialized form and there really isn’t an overall fandom at this point.

Over at dashPunk, C. E. Dorsett posted a rebuttal of sorts suggesting that it’s not…

Tue, 26 Aug 2008 20:00:35 +0000

A robot dog show. Well that’s the town of Eureka for you. But of course it’s not that simple. We have what initially appears to be a break in, followed by tremors (I’ve got to say the “mucous” looked awfully like green colored foam) and then there’s the dead dog. How does a robotic dog die? Well that’s the question isn’t it. And of course there are no earthquakes in…

Tue, 26 Aug 2008 16:00:42 +0000

I’m a little late to the game on this one, but I think it’s worth a moment of your time. The Deadbooks Project is described as a Hyper-Serialization of the Dead Books SF/Horror series by Hasso Wuerslin. The project launched last week (thanks to N. E. Lilly for linking to it in last week’s Internet News).

And what is Hyper-Serialization exactly. Well the intent seems to be to combine narration, actors, sound…

Tue, 26 Aug 2008 08:00:17 +0000

Mon, 25 Aug 2008 20:00:12 +0000

Guardians of the Galaxy #4
Writer: Dan Abnett & Andy Lanning
Artist: Paul Pelettier
Publisher: Marvel Comics

The Guardians of the Galaxy gets a Secret Invasion tie-in this month. Which is a little odd because it’s not set on earth. But they make it work, sealing off the station and ramping up the paranoia. I’m still not quite sure what to make of Major Victory’s arrival. Is he part of the team or just…

Mon, 25 Aug 2008 16:00:39 +0000

The novel The Stainless Steel Rat actually comprises of a novellas The Stainless Steel Rat and The Misplaced Battleship which were then rounded out with additional material completing the story. Perhaps inevitably the origins do show through in the flow of the story.

Harrison’s Stainless Steel Rat is a career criminal. He’s not out to hurt people, he’s just out for himself. But “Slippery” Jim diGriz is outsmarted by the Special…

Mon, 25 Aug 2008 08:00:38 +0000

News about science fiction on the Internet.

• Will TheWB Be Your New Favorite Website? The WB launches a new video on demand website, and adds your favorite Science Fiction shows.
• Pyr’s blog now a group effort
• Gemini Division, an NBC web series, has gone live.
• The Fate of Short Fiction Online. Gordon Van Gelder, editor of the Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, wants your input.
• Sites of the Week: Batman on Film (AMC SciFi…

Fri, 22 Aug 2008 20:00:40 +0000

The Sci Fi Channel has greenlit a two hour movie based on their Stargate Atlantis series. Sci Fi will of course have the television premiere for the movie which will aslo get a DVD release.

The Stargate Atlantis movie will be written by executive producers Joseph Mallozzi and Paul Mullie and will follow Atlantis’ fifth and final season (which is set to conclude in January 2009). It seems at this new…